The Lok Sabha passed the Motion of Thanks on the president’s address without Prime Minister Narendra Modi giving his customary reply as the Opposition continued its protest. This was the first time since 2004 that the prime minister has been unable to reply to the motion in the Lok Sabha.

The Opposition has been protesting against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi not being allowed to quote an excerpt of an unpublished memoir of former Indian Army chief MM Naravane about the political decision-making during the 2020 border tensions between India and China.

In 2004, the Bharatiya Janata Party, in Opposition at the time, had prevented Manmohan Singh from responding to the motion.

Modi was expected to speak in the Lower House at 5 pm on Wednesday. However, amid protests by Opposition MPs, the proceedings in the Lower House were adjourned till Thursday. But the prime minister’s speech did not take place. Read on.

The Mumbai Police claimed that British doctor Sangram Patil’s visit to India on a tourist visa and his social media activities were part of a “larger, organised effort” to post material about Prime Minister Narendra Modi that it alleged was defamatory and inflammatory material. The police described this as a matter of serious concern in an affidavit responding to a criminal writ petition filed by Patil in the Bombay High Court.

The police added that they were trying to ascertain the “true purpose” of Patil’s visit to India.

The case against Patil is based on a complaint by a BJP leader who in December accused the doctor of deliberately making allegedly defamatory and misleading posts about the Hindutva party and its leaders. On January 10, Patil was detained at the Mumbai airport and was later allowed to leave after being given a notice to join the investigation.

In his petition, Patil said that he was being targeted for political reasons and that the case was a misuse of criminal law to suppress dissenting political views. Read on.

At least 16 workers were killed in a suspected dynamite blast at an allegedly unauthorised coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district. Operations were underway to rescue more workers feared trapped. Read on.

Former poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj party moved the Supreme Court challenging the conduct of the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections over the alleged misuse of a cash transfer scheme by the state government ahead of polling, to allegedly influence voters. The petition sought fresh elections.

While the National Democratic Alliance had won 202 seats in the 243-member Assembly, the Opposition Mahagathbandhan won 35. The Jan Suraaj had failed to win a seat despite fielding candidates in 238 constituencies.

Ahead of the polls, the state government had transferred Rs 10,000 each to the bank accounts of women under a scheme meant to support one woman in every family to start a small business.

The payment in October, among a series of welfare measures announced by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ahead of the polls, was made despite the Model Code of Conduct being in force, Jan Suraaj alleged. Read on.

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